I recently attended the Marshall Frasier Beef Symposium, put on by Colorado Livestock Association in honor of my Gramps. This annual symposium is for cattlemen and one of the main discussion points this year was about the cattle markets and what the key drivers for 2015 and beyond look like. 2014 was obviously a banner year for cattlemen with unprecedented […]
exports
Japan, TPP and agriculture
On Friday of last week, the Obama Administration announced bilateral consultations with Japan about its interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have concluded and the U.S. welcomes Japan joining TPP negotiations. The TPP is an ambitious, next-generation, regional trade agreement that seeks to create a “new millennium model for trade.” As the world’s third […]
Missing out on a beefy opportunity, China.
This week, I read that China has approved four additional Canadian beef facilities that will now be able to export beef to China. These newly approved establishments will increase the Canadian export capacity for beef in a market estimated by the industry to be worth approximately $20 million annually. Timeout! Nothing against Canada, but why […]
New Orleans Frozen Port Tour
New Orleans, frozen in May? No, I actually toured a port wharf in New Orleans that ships out frozen beef and pork. This tour was part of the U.S. Meat Export Federation Board of Directors meeting held in New Orleans this past week. The tour showed us the different areas along the river where barges […]
What the Panama Canal means to agriculture
What does agriculture and the tropics have in common? The Panama Canal – the highway of agricultural products from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I had the great opportunity to experience it this past week. As my involvement with the US Grains Council has increased, so have my opportunities to see the importance of agriculture […]
Livestock ID/traceability important for export markets
When I was in Japan in July for the Nebraska corn-fed beef mission with the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), we had the chance to visit a large and very nice supermarket. In that supermarket, it specifically partitioned out the different countries that the meat was from: U.S. beef in one section; Aussie beef right […]
